Emil Pirchan (1884–1957) studied architecture at the class of Otto Wagner (1841–1918) from 1903 to 1906 at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He subsequently worked primarily as a commercial artist, and from 1919 was among the leading stage designers in the German-speaking world. By his own admission, the universally talented artist created more than 1,500 works of commercial art when he lived in Munich between 1908 and 1918, including some 50 posters, numerous logos, bookplates, poster stamps, designs for packaging, technical illustrations for user manuals, calendar sheets, invitation cards, book illustrations, templates for flyleaves, coloring books for children as well as playing cards. In 1913, he founded a private art school for advertising art in Munich. When working with smaller formats, Pirchan – much like with his posters – aimed at conveying trenchant pictorial messages. A
Female Head with an elongated hairstyle or headdress placed diagonally into the depiction is among the frequent motifs of the artist’s graphic works; it also featured on the cover of his novel
Das Teufelselixier [The Devil’s Elixir]. It is hardly surprising that the artist chose a memorable motif when advertising his own work.
IR, 2023
